The unexpected path
by Missymee-mee
Summary: Sent on an almost impossible mission with her former sensei. Her bond with Kakashi starts to deepen. Her blooming infatuation is almost sent to a hault when unexpected events start to pop up. Sakura has to determine which path to take. SakuraKaka redid ch
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone this Missymee-mee. I really hope that you enjoy my story. Both me and my best friend worked hard on it!!**

**the letters in bold are when Kakashi or Inner Sakura are talking**

**OH YEAH! PLEASE REVIEW !!!!**

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A large rat scurried across the cave floor, looking for food to prepare for the winter. The rat saw a strand of pink hair, spotted with blood.  
Mistaking it for food, it moved closer. Before the rat could utter a sound, a kunai buzzed through the damp air, impaling the mammal. The  
speed and strength of the kunai caused it to bury itself in the dirt floor. The kunai had been thrown from the shadows of the cave by an  
injured figure of a 17-year-old kunoichi. 

Her right leg was set in an odd position and apparently to be broken. The kunoichi slowly limped towards the miniscule carcass, one foot after another. Pain was evident in the way she moved her body and how she seemed to favor her left leg. She slowly kneeled to the damp, cold ground. Exerting the last of her strength and using the last drop of her diminishing chakra, she heaved the bloodstained kunai out from the ground and rat. With a grunt of effort, the ninja picked up her and her teammate's source of food, not minding the warm blood that dripped from the animal. She slowly turned to the trap that she had made for the rat, a tied knot of her blood soaked hair.

She chuckled painfully as she remembered how Naruto always complained how beautiful and deadly her hair was. She stopped laughing when she remembered the reason why he had never stopped teasing her. A scowl adorned her pretty face. No matter how many times she punched him with her inhuman strength, he persisted. Naruto tried to prove that other people's hair could be used as a trap for animals, but found that only Sakura's pink hair attracted the wildlife enough for them to hunt. She would never understand her other teammate's talent for annoying people.

Sakura stopped reminiscing about the past and thought of how to eat the animal and feed it to her severely injured teammate. She clumsily to the cave wall and lifted her weary eyes to the entrance of the cave. The rain seemed to reflect her emotions. Sadness. Anger. Moreover, dread. Sakura cursed herself that she didn't have enough chakra to heal herself and her teammate.

The dampness from the rain outside invaded the cave, leaving boggy areas in its wake. The girl removed her eyes from the withering forest outside to the inside of her shelter and spotted her reflection in a large puddle. It showed a grimy, blood stained face. However, with large aquamarine eyes, a small button nose, and full, red lips on a pale complexion, she still looked amazing. Cropped, cherry blossom colored hair crowned her head. Her eyes were filled with wisdom that she had recently achieved from her harsh tutelage under the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade.

Her eyes dropped down to her figure; even if she was the smallest jounin in Konoha, she had a figure that every woman prayed to achieve. Not only that but her chest was strangely starting to appear like her shishou. Hopefully, she wouldn't get back problems. She lifted a small, calloused hand that showed her years of hard work and tried to rub the grime off her cheek. She sighed and gave up. 'I had better hurry up and give this…rat to him so he will live through the night.' She moved to the very back of the cave and reached her teammate's side.

Silver broomstick hair still stuck up through all the blood that matted his head. His lean, yet muscular, figure was sprawled on the ground. He was just so…sensual! She had been around him for how long? Shouldn't she be used to him by now? Like how she shivered when he turned his piercing gaze on her. Or when he leaned close to give her advice or correct her it was like only the two of them even existed in the world. He was her teacher. So should she really be having these feelings? **'What about Sasuke?'** whispered an annoying voice in her head. Sasuke had betrayed her though. Had just run away. She HAD to forget about him. Someone else was there for her though. Kakashi.

In a soft whisper, she called his name and told him that she had found food and was going to cook it. He did not answer. 'Of course he wouldn't; he's unconscious!' thought Sakura. Giving one last endearing look to Kakashi, she went to the task. The kunoichi managed to find two sticks in the damp cave. She rubbed them together, trying to make a small fire, since Sakura could not use a fire jutsu and suffer from the chakra depletion. Little sparks landed on some material that she ripped from her clothes, starting a tiny fire.

As the rat cooked, she looked over to her teammate again. His long body was covered with blood, dirt, and a sort of wetness she was sure was sweat. She moved her gaze to his face; a black mask covered his lower facial features, preventing her from seeing anything. "Kakashi…I was so scared." Sakura whispered, attempting to mask the feelings that showed in her voice. Then the smell of cooked meat reached her nose. "The food!" Sakura quickly averted her eyes to the well-done meat. "Oh good, it's not burned." Her relief seemed to radiate in the air.

"Excellent, now I have to figure out how to get this in his mouth" 'Will Kakashi get mad at me if I remove his mask?' Sakura wondered what was under it…a mole? Fish lips? Or maybe it's buckteeth! She shuddered. The possibilities were endless. **'I'm so tempted to tear that mask off his face! How can he breathe like that? Wouldn't normal people suffocate under the mask?! What is he thinking? What are we thinking?! We should have removed that mask a long time ago!'** Inner Sakura raged through her mind. Sakura sighed, not noticing the slight twitch of Kakashi's arm, the increase of his pulse, and the soft mutterings produced from his lips.

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'Urgh…my head.'** Kakashi slightly twitched his arm. He was too tired to move any part of his body. **'What's that smell? Wait! Where's Sakura!' **Kakashi's tired mind couldn't derive a conclusion and started to panic. **'I can't let anything happen to her!'** He stopped and tried to think of the last place he had seen Sakura.** 'All I can remember is fighting Itachi! I have to wake up.'** Kakashi started to drift from his unconscious state and unknowingly muttered the one name that had been on his mind, Sakura.

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"Sakura…Sakura…" the kunoichi yelped, flinging the food. The rat went airborne, doing cartwheels and summersaults. Without her lightning fast reflexes, she would have had to find a new source of food. "There is that sound again." **'Well duh, if you look over to the man that is right there, you can find that he is calling YOUR name!!!' **Inner Sakura yelled out the last words. Sakura quickly pushed her other self out of her thoughts and turned to Kakashi. She watched as Kakashi opened his uncovered eye, the one without the sharingan. She watched his eye clear of bleariness and centered his attention on herself. 

"Sakura" his unused voice cracked. He raised his hand and reached to touch Sakura's cheek, stroking her cheekbones. "Sakura, you're safe."

Sakura froze; his hand was warm and held an emotion she hadn't expected him to show. Nevertheless, she moved her face closer into his hand, relishing the warmth.

"Kakashi, we need to eat, but you need the food more than I do." murmured Sakura, reluctant to break the comfortable silence. "I was just trying to figure out how to feed you with that damn mask in the way."

"Just take my mask off." croaked Kakashi.

Sakura froze once more. **'What the hell happened to Kakashi; he's acting weird! He never allows anyone to come near his mask!'** This was very new to Sakura. Sure, she would finally manage to get the mask off, but ever since she had become a genin she had grown accustomed to Kakashi's protectiveness of his mask. She sighed and shook her head. 'I might as well listen to him.' She reached a timid hand to Kakashi's face, and with jerky movements, she ripped the mask off his face, just the way Inner Sakura wanted it. She gasped. She had never seen a god in her life, but now she was sure she was staring at one. She had seen many attractive men in her missions and everyday life, but this made her eyeballs pop out. Sakura didn't have any words to describe his face but one. PERFECT. She shook her head, clearing the nasty thoughts that started to pop up in her mind.

He slowly moved his hand away from her face; he hadn't expected her to lean into his hand, let alone let him do it. In Konoha, many of the male population knew of her feistiness, especially her teammates.** 'Poor Sai, why does he continue to torment her? Calling her ugly or hag isn't good for his health,' **drawled Kakashi in his mind.

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Sakura was still in a daze. Kakashi watched the emotions storm through her face, one after another. He was amused that Sakura had to feed him, since the only moveable parts of his body were his lips, eyes and jaw. This moment reminded him of a certain chapter in his 'Icha Icha Paradise' book, but it obviously lacked a certain something. **'Poor, deprived Sakura; she didn't expect me to be drop-dead gorgeous.'** He smirked mischievously in his mind, but suddenly stopped, the smirk slid from his mind. He needed to ask Sakura the results of their mission. He also needed to know why he was so injured and why Sakura hadn't healed him yet. He started when he saw Sakura snap out of her reverie. 

Sakura abruptly ripped off a piece of meat off the rat and placed it near his lips. "Kakashi, open your mouth and chew well. I don't want you to choke and die." Sakura brusquely commanded Kakashi. He obeyed the medic-nin and chewed thoroughly. He could feel some of his chakra rushing through his body, making him think more clearly. Swallowing the food, he met Sakura's gaze.

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**How was that!!! I really hope that you peoples review!!The next chapter will hopefully be longer...**

**Yours TrulyME **


	2. Chapter 2

**The flashback in this story is somewhat long, but it's kind of important….Just wanted to tell you.Oh yeah thanks for being so patient!! I would have updated sooner, but the stupid uploader -thingy-ma -bob wouldn't work!!**

**sigh I wish I owned Naruto...but I don't sob**

**Inner Sakurabold  
Kakashi thoughtsbold  
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An onyx eye clashed with emerald ones. Kakashi locked gazes with Sakura. "Sakura, what happened when we were ambushed?" Kakashi lazily looked up at the tired kunoichi, his eyebrow raised. Sakura sighed. Both her and her inner self wished that Kakashi did not bring up the topic for their mission. It brought back painful memories for her. She knew that a shinobi as perceptive as Kakashi would want to know everything. With a slight frown, Sakura looked down at Kakashi, her fingers ripping another tiny piece of meat from the large rat. "Kakashi-kun, I really think you should eat and regain some movement of your limbs before you hear everything. Don't you think?" Sakura's mocking voice had and underlay of seriousness.

With a slight huff, Kakashi commented, "If you really think that thing will give an exhausted grown man enough strength to move, I really think that you should retake your medical exams and get your common sense back from Naruto." "That is also why I brought some fo---… Oomph" A dumb-founded look came upon Kakashi's face. Sakura just viciously stuffed food in his mouth and interrupted him. He stiffened and returned his gaze back to Sakura and slightly flinched. Her face, contorted in such anger, scared him. He quickly started to chew and began to think. Meanwhile inner sakura was giving her other-self hell.

'**What is that buffoon thinking?! We do not need to retake the medical exams and how dare he compare us to that ramen-addicted idiot! Shannaro! That man is going down! Let's not tell him about the mission and let him think-!'** inner Sakura was interrupted when Kakashi started to speak again. "Was the mission really that-" Kakashi stopped and his eyes widened and then suddenly closed in anger. In unison, the Sakuras rolled their eyes back, **'Now he figures it out, so much for the famous copy-nin with the magnificent Sharingan…'** Inner Sakura snidely said.

Sakura looked at Kakashi and looked at the food in her hands. She ripped a piece for herself and put it in her mouth, chewing the food slowly letting it travel down to her awaiting stomach. She would have to hunt for more food as soon as she finished telling Kakashi the details. It was still sprinkling outside 'I don't want to get wet.' Sakura violently cleared her throat to catch her teammate's attention. Kakashi started not daring to reach Sakura's eyes. "As you have just figured out the Akatsuki stole the forbidden scroll when they ambushed us." … "Technically, it was my fault since I was the one carrying it." She was answered with silence again. She knew that it was a disgrace for Kakashi to fail a mission as important as this. '**But Tsunade-sama said that it was an S-class mission, so you had to expect many difficulties**' inner Sakura commented.

"As I was saying, Akatsuki ambushed us and we were separated. You were fighting Itachi and I was fighting Kisame." Sakura stopped; Kakashi seemed to hang on every word that she uttered. "Things were going terrible, we were both loosing." Images of the battle between Kisame and herself flashed through her mind.

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Flash-back

Sakura slowly moved her hand toward her back and stopped, she forgot, she did not have her massive axe with her. Instead, she smirked at Kisame, reached into her pocket, and took out the steel knuckle guards that Tsunade gave her for her sixteenth birthday. These would be of great use because it added more strength to her punches. "Hoshigaki Kisame, one of the legendary seven swordsmen. I knew that we were going to have major difficulties in this mission. I expected you, so I brought one of my favorite weapons along." Sakura sweetly said, blinking her eyes innocently. She tried to butter Kisame up, make him underestimate her, and then she will land a surprise hit. Hopefully, she would be able to escape with Kakashi back to Konoha. She did not think that she would be able to win a battle against him without help.

Kisame only replied by unwrapping his Samehade and muttering something about a stupid kunoichi. They stood poised ready to fight. A slight breeze stirred the brown leaves around the ninjas. The tension was thick in the air. Suddenly, they lunged toward each other. Sakura aimed an already enhanced chakra fist toward the fish man's face but had to swerve to the left when the gigantic sword came whistling, just missing her head.

Sakura turned in the dirt making streaks where her feet dragged the dirt. From past information from people who fought him, she knew to avoid his sword. The sword was a leech for chakra and it did not slice like ordinary swords, but shred. She could already feel the loss of a little chakra that the sword took. Kisame decided to take the initiative to underestimate her and got in the range of her 'fists of terror', but Sakura missed the hand signs that he made.

She smirked, gathered chakra into her fists, and violently punched the ground making a small fissure. It caused chunks of the earth to spew from the ground. The earth looked like gigantic nails that dropped from the sky. When the dust settled, Kisame was nowhere in sight. Before she could react, Kisame was breathing down her neck "Did you really think that a weak attack like that could injure me, kunoichi?" He swung his sword toward her abdomen. Sakura moved in time to miss the blow to her front but caused her to receive the hit to her left leg. Sakura slid and rolled on the ground making a line of dirt where she fell.

She hunched over the wound trying to lessen the pain by trying to heal it, but Kisame would not let her. Before she could determine how much damage was recieved, he was on her, his sword high above his head, ready to slice her in two. She quickly rolled away, wincing in pain when pressure was applied to her injured leg. The sword crashed next to her, letting out a shower of rocks and dirt. Chakra was absorbed from her body from the closeness of the sword. She clumsily jumped away on her uninjured leg as Kisame wrenched his sword out from the ground and sped toward her.

The sword was about to connect with her body but the commanding presence of Itachi stopped Kisame. Itachi walked closer to the paused battle. She could see splotches of blood scattered across his cloak "The scroll isn't with Hatake-san" not blinking once as he turned his gaze from Kisame to the panting Sakura. Their eyes connected. She panicked. What happened to Kakashi! Inner Sakura flinched telling her to avert her eyes from Itachi's Sharingan. But it was too late; Sakura was trapped in the genjutsu.

She stood in the middle of the battlefield not able to move as Kisame walked to her and searched in her pockets. All the while Itachi's gaze never left her. When the sword wielder found the forbidden scroll, he signaled to his partner that he was ready to go. Itachi released his gaze and joined Kisame in the canopies of the trees, disappearing from sight. Rain started to pour from the sky as Sakura fell to her knees heaving. The rain seemed to reflect how she felt. She tried to collect herself from the fear that struck her moments ago.

Her hand was shaking fiercely as she calculated the wound. Her left thigh didn't look recognizable. Her flesh was ripped from her thigh and she could see a little of her bone. It was still gushing blood. She began to heal it sloppily, too worried about Kakashi to heal herself properly. She finished with herself, only stopping the blood flow and repairing the skin. She quickly went to search for Kakashi, not minding the pain that radiated from her thigh.

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end flashback

"I found you unconscious facedown. You didn't seem to be injured badly. I was glad. I didn't have enough chakra to heal you after healing myself right after a battle. I suspect that Itachi either did a genjutsu on you or he used the Mangekyou, but since you just woke up right now I don't think he used the Mangekyou."

"How long were we here?" He paused. "Where did you hurt yourself?" Kakashi lazily asked.

"We have been here for at least a day or two and I injured my leg" she replied quietly. "I wish I had some more food to feed us with so I don't have to hunt for more." She hung her head dejectedly. Inner Sakura's stomach rumbled.

"Well Sakura, if you didn't stuff my mouth I was going to offer you some food." Kakashi held two onigiris in his hand.

"Kakashi…You had food this whole time and you didn't tell-... You can move your arms!" Kakashi blinked. "I have been able to move my arms for a few minutes now I was wondering when you would notice." Kakashi raised his eyebrow and grinned failing to mask some of his fear for the now angry young woman as she started to reach into her pocket for her steel knuckle guards. Thankfully, for Kakashi she decided against it. **'He probably moved his arms or something when you were thinking.'** Inner Sakura grumbled.

"Give me that!" Sakura snatched the food away from Kakashi greedily eating it. Kakashi watched in interest, slowly eating his own onigiri. Sakura finished eating her food and cleared her throat. "Thank you." She avoided his eyes and blushed. Kakashi chuckled, "There's no need to thank me Sakura. I should thank you for giving me such an amusing show of how a starving kunoichi eats."

Sakura blushed from indignation and embarrassment and hit Kakashi on the head "Baka! I am the one who saved your butt and you thank me this way!" Kakashi recoiled in pain raising his arms to his head. "You didn't save my butt, you just woke me up." Kakashi sarcastically commented. Sakura did not reply but stood up and limped to the entrance of the cave. A sad, depressed aura permeated the air around her. Kakashi became nervous. Did he hurt her feelings or was it a female problem… **'I really hope that I didn't hurt her feelings'** he sighed **'I might as well apologize to her. You never know what's on a women's mind until you ask.'**

"Sakura, I'm sorry did I hurt your feelings?" Sakura twisted her head and changed her position from the entrance to look at Kakashi. She was surprised that he would think such a thing. Sakura smiled in her mind 'how sweet'.

"Kakashi you don't need to apologize. You didn't do anything. I'm just thinking how Tsunade-sama is going to act when she finds out that we failed the mission." Sakura hated to disappoint her shishou. "She didn't tell us anything regarding to the scroll. Tsunade-shishou would normally tell me some basic things about the scrolls, especially if they are forbidden, but this time…This has caught my interests. Do you understand, Kakashi?"

He nodded his head, "Tsunade-sama didn't tell me anything about the scroll so naturally it caught my interest."

Out of the blue Kakashi asked, "Do you by any chance know any summons?" Sakura blinked and chuckled. "Kakashi you are looking at The Hokage's best apprentice and you think I don't know any summons?" Kakashi looked unfazed by her unusual pride in her voice. Inside he was berating himself. He remembered hearing Sai mutter to himself. 'Ugly got a summon that looks like her'.

"Well Sakura, I was wondering if you could send help over to us." Finally looking her in the eyes.

'Why didn't I think about that' Sakura smiled at Kakashi. Positioning herself so she would not loose her balance, she breathed in deeply, calming herself. She needed to make sure that she could get the correct amount of chakra for her particular summon. Swiftly making the hand seals that were needed, she bit her thumb in a smooth practiced manner. Slamming her hand on the cave floor, she muttered "Kuchiyose no Jutsu." A loud poof erupted from the cloud of smoke in front them. When the smoke started to drift an image of a slug came in to view. From the tip of its eyeball to the ground, the slug stood at three feet. Its unusual magenta color clashed with the red, cherry blossom shaped hat that it wore. Kakashi looked on with amusement. If Sakura were turned into a slug, it would definitely look like the one in front of him.

"Hello Sakura-sama! How may I help you?" The slug unmistakably showed its enthusiasm with its high squeaky voice.

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I'm really sorry if it doesn't meet any of your standards!! I tried to continue with this chapter but I found that moving on to chapter 3 would be a better idea

Anywho PLEASE REVIEW!!! REVIEWS ARE FOOD SO PLEASE FEED THE HUNGRY WRITER-PERSON!!!!!!!!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone! I had to redo this chapter before I move on to chapter 4...I'm very sorry for those people who thought that this was chapter 4...GOMEN!!!BOWS Anywho I dedicate this to my best friend and sister Catherine! Without her this wouldn't be possible!!**

**PLEASE REVIEW!! REVIEWS ARE FOOD FOR HUNGRY WRITER-PEOPLE!!**

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Sakura smiled affectionately at her summon. She hid her injured leg from the slug and straightened her posture. She then looked into her summon's lime green eyes.

"Sakuya-chan, would you mind sending a message to Tsunade-sama for me?" Sakuya seemed overjoyed in seeing her masters teacher and did not notice Sakura's attempt to hide her injured limb.

"What do you want me to tell her Sakura-sama?" Sakuya slowly circled around Sakura, creating a ring of slime around her. And because of her bouncy movement, Sakuya's cherry blossom hat precariously dangled from her slimy head.

Sakura glanced over to Kakashi, who was strangely quiet, and back to Sakuya. She was hoping that Kakashi would mention something about her summon or that Sakuya would mention a relationship between them. She sighed and gave up on that thought. She could dream about things. Couldn't she?

Hopefully, she could use Sakuya's denseness as an advantage and trust that she wouldn't see her injured leg. In a brisk manner that she usually reserved for the Konoha hospital, she started to speak.

"Tell Tsunade-shishou that Kakashi and I failed the mission" - Sakuya blinked in surprise –"and that we are both injured" –her lime green eyes narrowed-"and need a retrieval-team to assist us in our return."

Sakura tensed. Her injuries wouldn't kill her but her summon could. Being a superb Medic Nin, she had strong opinions and distressed feelings when her co-workers sent the fatally injured to her. Her summon on the other hand tended to be harsh. Having high expectations for ninjas, the pink slug wasn't pleased with the injured. Sakuya was especially infuriated if the injured person was precious to her.

Sakuya's eyeball twitched. A fuming aura shot out from her body and her hat fell off. This was a horrible signal. No matter how Sakuya moved rather, whether it was upside down or at the speed of light, her hat never fell off. Sakura had a hunch that it had to do with the slug's chakra but she was not entirely sure. Yet, fear made Sakura slowly back up to the damp cave wall with the little balance that she had.

"Now, now Sakuya... - shaking her head back forth, her pink locks swaying- d...d- don't get mad I'll heal myself as soon as I get enough chakra and I'll go the hospital! Okay?"'

**'I'm surprised that we're still standing! We just used the remaining of our Chakra so how the hell are supposed to heal ourselves so soon and I'm not letting a newbie medic heal me.' **inner Sakura stubbornly tilted her chalky-like chin high in the air with a big huff.

Sakura ignored inner's rambling and pondered about her summon. Hopefully her summon wouldn't do what she did the last time she was injured. Sakura shuddered remembering the slimy feeling of her summon leaping on to her injury.

The pink colored slug sighed, put her hat back on her head(a/n: I don't know how a slug can put anything back on their head since they don't have arms)gave one last intimidating glare at her master, and vanished, a trail of slime created in her quick departure.

Kakashi thought in silence not noticing the look the Sakura sent him. How his little Sakura grew. The last time he saw her was two years ago when she was fifteen. Did he start to have feelings for her then or was it recent? Like, when he saw her for the first time after a two-year absence.

(Flashback)

He remembered walking into the Konoha gates, bloody and tired after a two-year mission. He had passed the time limit for the mission and must immediately see the Hokage. She told him that if he were a week or two late for the deadline, she would send out ninja to search for him.

He passed a jounin with a large ax tied to her back. Never in his thirty-three years of living has he seen an axe like this. It was almost as long as Zabuza's sword and the covered steel blade of the axe curved a foot over the kunoichi's left shoulder. The tip of the handle went slightly past her knee. He marveled at the female's poise; carrying such a heavy object on her petite body should be difficult, yet she bore it with such finesse. He estimated her height; she would be level to his shoulder. If he remembered correctly, Sakura was the same height as this mysterious stranger, yet wouldn't Sakura grow after two-years?

He wondered what her skills were with the weapon. On his way to the village, he remembered eavesdropping on some male shinobi about "the Mercenary Kunoichi", who wielded a huge axe that was always tied to her back. He felt intrigued with the female and wanted to know who she was and ignored the loud, throbbing of his tired body.

There wasn't enough sunlight outside to determine the kunoichi's hair color and her long lashes obscured her eyes. He felt from instinct that he had seen this stranger before. Realizing that he was staring, he started to limp to the kunoichi planning to introduce himself, yet he wondered why the kunoichi continued to ignore him, as she concentrated her eyes in a particular direction.

Quite suddenly, however, he felt a familiar chakra signature rapidly coming toward him. Kakashi turned. His eyes widened as a blonde blur sped past him almost knocking him off his feet.

The blonde-haired person shouted, "Sorry Anbu-ojisan" as he sped by.

Kakashi blinked. He forgot that he was wearing his anbu mask.

_No wonder Naruto didn't recognize me._ He smirked

Beneath the two masks that he wore, he grinned at his luck. He would ask Naruto to introduce him to the attractive jounin. He turned to the pair and opened his mouth to speak but the kunoichi beat him to it.

"_Naruto_!-her eyes snapped open and startled Kakashi with deep pools of green. - "You are late!-pointed an accusing finger at the blonde- "We were supposed to leave for the retrieval mission fifteen minutes ago! You're worse than Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi cringed. "The Mercenary kunoichi" was Sakura! He narrowed his eyes to get a better look at her hair. Sakura's hair would always be a way to figure out if it was really her. He didn't know any pinked haired kunoichi in Konoha besides Sakura, but it had to be a different person. He panicked. He even stated that the female was attractive, in his mind of course, but if she was Sakura…As the mystery kunoichi turned her head the remaining sunlight bounced off her hair and Kakashi was able to see her strawberry locks-He felt ashamed…He ogled his own student!

The setting sun painted a beautiful picture for him but Kakashi didn't notice it he watched the show in front of him pondering if he should intervene and say hi or go to the Hokage first. He chose decision number one and decided to stop them from going on with the mission. He was certain that he was the person that they were departing to retrieve.

Naruto sped up to the female and almost collided with her rather large chest when he tripped past the anbu, but thankfully he was saved when he managed to gain his balance after rapidly flipping sideways into the air. Naruto, in a deeper voice than Kakashi remembered, yelled out the name that Kakashi was dreading,

"Sakura-chan!"

The said kunoichi responded with a loud shout of Naruto's name and a demand of him to apologize properly to the anbu that he bumped into. Yet Naruto adamantly refused to apologize stating that he already did and that it wasn't his fault.

Kakashi slowly walked toward the commotion and knew that if the female in front of was really Sakura he would have to stop the approaching punch that was making a beeline for the hyperactive, blue-eyed man.

Speeding up so he reached Sakura's side he grabbed her wrist just as her fist was about to hit the cowering Naruto. Naruto blinked and looked up at the anbu that had just saved his ramen-loving ass. He smirked and jumped up, he puffed his chest out, and his eyes grew huge and twinkled.

"Ha! Don't you see Sakura-chan! Anbu-chan was the one who was in the way and he knew that I said sorry. He knows that someday I will be above him as the Hokage, so to show his loyalty and support he stopped your fist of terror from punching me! Thanks Anbu-chan! I'll be sure to give you a pay raise when I'm Hokage!" Naruto thumped Kakashi on his back making him flinch with pain.

Sakura on the other hand narrowed her eyes at the grimace.

twitchKakashi sweat dropped at the nickname. You could always depend on Naruto to be disrespectful.

Kakashi decided that it was his chance to speak. "Well I am delighted to see that you are the same after all these years Naruto and I don't think I'll need a pay raise, but thanks for mentioning it." Kakashi said in a dry, lazy voice and slowly removed his anbu mask.

The two jounin gasped simultaneously. Naruto lunged at Kakashi and gave him a bear hug. Kakashi was surprised. Naruto had gotten a lot taller and he had just noticed. He was almost as big as he was and his hug was crushing him!

"Kakashi-sensei it's you! When did you get back? How was your mission?" Naruto looked as if he was going to explode with joy and turned to Sakura, "Now we don't have to go out of the village, huh Sakura-chan!"

"Answering Naruto's question, I came back a few moments ago." Kakashi let go of Sakura's wrist and turned to look at her with his onyx eye. "Ne, Sakura-chan, when did you get that?" Kakashi ungracefully slouched and pointed at the huge weapon on her back. Sakura blinked and looked slightly confused until she looked at where his finger was pointing and chuckled.

Kakashi was mesmerized with her bell like giggle

"I got this shortly after you left on your mission and I've been using it since," Sakura looked up at Kakashi, saw his surprised look, and smirked. "You don't think I can handle it do you?" her tone started to get dangerous and Naruto looked nervous, yet still managed still smile.

Kakashi replied with a slight smile under his black mask and his eye curved in the trademark way. "So Sakura you are the "Mercenary Kunoichi"? Quite an interesting name don't you think? You mind my asking how you got it?"

Naruto looked devious and was going to comment… if the kunoichi hadn't covered his mouth. Sakura turned a deep red color that clashed horribly with her hair. "How did you find out about that...Never mind I don't think it's a good time to have a deep conversation since you're badly injured" No one could escape her medic eye. She waited for some type of argument from Kakashi, but didn't get one and it started to worry her.

Kakashi didn't have enough strength to argue with Sakura or avoid the hospital and reluctantly nodded his head. He saw Sakura nod at Naruto and felt him grab a hold of his shoulder.

"Don't worry Kakashi-sensei! Sakura-chan will get you pieced together in no time!" Naruto grinned and gave Kakashi's shoulder a pat.

Kakashi looked at the both of them, but let his gaze on Sakura linger. Both of them have grown into powerful shinobi and he bet on his mask that if they were to spar, Naruto and Sakura would definitely win. He didn't deserve the name of sensei anymore. They had surpassed him.

"Don't call me sensei anymore" quietly commanding the two and removed Naruto's hold on his shoulder. He limped toward the hospital, not minding the surprised stares that he received from his equals.

(End Flashback)

Since that time, he wasn't able to corner Sakura and question her about her new nickname. Sadly, after his successful healing, done by Sakura, Tsunade-sama sent them on a mission to retrieve an unexplained scroll that seemed to bother his conscious. It put him on a slight edge, but at least he could ask Sakura now.

"Kakashi? Kakashi? Kakashi! You old man look at me!" Sakura yelled in his ears.

Kakashi jerked his body away from Sakura as if he had been burned and glared at her. Covering his precious ears as if they were gold, he turned his moveable torso to Sakura.

"Who are you calling an old man?" He replied in a low menacing voice, sending a shiver down her spine and causing her to clutch the damp wall in effort to keep balanced.

Sakura nervously giggled, "Well while you were day-dreaming I sent Sakuya-chan to get us some help." She carefully slid down the wall to sit across from him and positioned her injured leg in a comfortable position.

She looked out of the cave entrance and did notice the look of longing Kakashi sent her way.

**Well I redid some of this and I corrected the many, MANY mistakes, hoping that it would sound a little better. I give big thanks to Sailormoonie17 cause without her criticism I wouldn't have made the effort!!!!**


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